SHELBY – The D.A.R.E. program will make its return to the Shelby community and schools.
After an eight-year hiatus, the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program will return to Shelby in partnership with the Shelby Police Department and Shelby City Schools. On Monday, Shelby City Council approved legislation authorizing the mayor to apply for the Drug Use and Prevention Awareness Grant for up to $11,000 from the Ohio Attorney General.
According to Police Chief Lance Combs, the $11,000 would reimburse the wages for the officers’ time spent in the classroom teaching the D.A.R.E. program. The implementation of the program is back by popular demand.
“This was an action item from our opiate meetings that the public said they wanted,” Combs said. “We wanted something that was officer-driven that develops those relationships throughout the course.”
The application was submitted on Friday, April 28 in order to meet the grant deadline, and the resolution was approved retroactively. The program chosen for Shelby schools is D.A.R.E.’s “Keepin’ it REAL” program targeting elementary and middle school curriculums.
“All of the programs had the hard data to prove they are effective,” said Councilman Garland Gates. “Independent academics have proved that any one of these programs does what it says it does. We want to make sure if we’re doing a program such as this that we’re getting our money’s worth, quite honestly.”
To that end, former police chief and Councilman Charlie Roub questioned whether the D.A.R.E. program would be worth the city’s time and money.
“It cost the city a lot more money than we thought (in the past),” Roub said. “I had to question the effectiveness of the program at that time simply because while that program was in effect, you see what happened to the drug program in the area. It really didn’t do a whole lot of good.”
Combs argued that the D.A.R.E. program was part of a long-term plan to implement a resource officer within Shelby City Schools, similar to the resource officer in place at Pioneer Career & Technology Center.
“The reason we want that school resource officer is D.A.R.E. would be part of his assigned duties,” Combs said. “If we had a resource officer all costs would be paid for by the schools and the $11,000 would offset what the school would pay.”
Both Combs and Capt. David Mack stated they had no expectation that they would not receive the full funding asked for in the grant. Mack stated the department would hear about receiving the grant in the next two months.
“This is a high priority for the state, drug education,” Mack said. “It would shock me if we don’t get that amount.”
While receiving the grant funding is not a guarantee yet, Mack stated the D.A.R.E. program would be coming to Shelby regardless. Officer Keith Swisher was chosen by an interview panel to serve as the back-up resource officer, and will be attending D.A.R.E. and resource officer training this summer thanks to a donation from a local business.
The D.A.R.E. program will begin in the middle school, but Mack noted the plan is to eventually enforce the program at the high school level as well. A number of community members have encouraged the return of the D.A.R.E. program, and the proposal was also supported by members of council.
“We obviously have an epidemic going on in Ohio and across the country when it comes to drugs and drug use,” said Councilman Nathan Martin. “And we don’t fully grasp why it gets to the level it does, but what we do know is that early intervention programs like this to our children are vital in ensuring this doesn’t completely take over our community.”
In other news, council also voted to approve legislation authorizing the mayor to enter into a sales agreement for the sale of the Shelby Fire Department’s 1963 Jeep, a Willy’s CJ-3B with 9,660 miles. The agreement states that the city shall not sell the Jeep for less than $5,000.
Councilman Gates stated he received feedback from the community that the Jeep be donated or loaned to the Mansfield Fire Museum. If donated to the museum, the city would still be responsible for paying for insurance and maintenance.
“I believe in history and historic preservation as much as anyone, and if this piece of equipment were worth only a few hundred dollars I would have different thoughts about loaning it to the museum,” Gates said.
According to NADA price guide report, the Shelby Fire Jeep is categorized as a high-retail vehicle. Any money collected from the sale of the Jeep would go back into Shelby’s fire equipment fund.
“At the last safety committee meeting, (Fire Chief Mike Thompson) said they had applied for a grant and were turned down,” Gates said. “Here’s a case where we have an asset with unbelievable value. I appreciate people’s concerns, but I think being good stewards of the tax payers’ dollars and the city’s assets indicate this should be sold.”
